I’m very happy to confirm that the plans for the new Ballyogan gym, pool and sports facilities have been published for public consultation.
For anyone unfamiliar with the area, the Samuel Beckett Civic Campus is here at Eircode D18 HT72. We are currently fitting out a library in the existing Civic Centre, which should open in November 2024 (more details on the exciting library project here). The new facilities will be connected to surrounding areas by the Leopardstown Valley and Ballyogan Wood Luas stops, the new pathways in Jamestown Park and the Cruagh Greenway.
The facilities that are planned in the new Ballyogan sports campus are:
- A 25m swimming pool
- A learner swimming pool (similar to the small pool in Meadowbrook)
- A gym and fitness studios
- An indoor sports hall
- 1 GAA pitch & 2 soccer pitches, replacing the existing pitches, drained to modern standards to enable year-round use.
- A brand new playground, with accessible play equipment
- New 5-a-side all-weather pitches
- Outdoor facilities designed for teenagers to have somewhere to socialise in a positive way
- New paths around the whole green space to make it more accessible
- Additional bicycle parking, additional surface car parking
- EV charge points
- Set down areas for buses and car drop-offs
- A publicly accessible green roof on top of the pool and gym
- The buildings and facilities will be built to the highest energy standards to ensure low running cost and low environmental impact, with a large array of solar PV panels on the roof producing more than enough electricity to run the facility.
The plans will be out on public display from Monday 11th March in the Samuel Beckett Civic Centre, the council office in Dundrum and Dún Laoghaire County Hall and online here.
There will also be two in-person drop-in sessions when you’ll be able to meet the architects and the project team to ask questions and give your direct input. These information sessions will be at the existing Samuel Beckett Community Facility on the following dates:
- Thursday 14th March 2.30-4pm
- Tuesday 26th March 5-6pm
The project will be open for public consultation until early April.
If you like, you can go directly to the Public Consultation Survey here:
In May, we as councillors will be asked to grant planning approval for the project, with potentially some changes that get suggested during the public consultation. I’m fully behind the project and I would expect it to get approval given its value to our community.
In a meeting with the project team, we were told that there will be some details that are not defined at this point, but that will be included at the final stage of tendering and construction.
Estimated timelines for the project are:
- March – April 2024: public consultation on the plans
- May 2024: councillors grant planning permission
- May 2024 – December 2024: finalise detailed designs
- January 2025: Advertise tender for a construction contractor
- Summer 2025: Contruction starts onsite
- 2027: Construction complete and Ballyogan Sports Campus opens to the public
If you have any thoughts or input on the project, as well as making a submission to the public consultation, you can email me at any time: [email protected].
